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Zenobia

W >> William Ware >> Zenobia




You yourself, advocate as you are for the existing order of things, would
be agitated alternately by horror and compassion, were I to relate to you
the scenes described to me by Milo, as having a thousand times been
witnessed by him when in the service of Gallienus. To torture and destroy
his slaves, by the most ingenious devices of cruelty, was his daily
pastime. They were purchased for this very end. When I see you again, I
will give you instances with which I could not soil these pages.
Antiochus, were he in Rome, would be a monster of the same stamp. But all
this is, as I have often mentioned, a necessary accompaniment of such
power as the laws confer upon the owner.

And now, that war has actually broken out between Palmyra and Rome, you
will wish to know what part I intend to take. Your letters imply, that in
such an event you would expect my immediate return. But this pleasure
must, for the present at least, he deferred. I am too deeply interested in
too many here, to allow me to forsake them in a time of so much anxiety,
and as I think of peril too. Zenobia's full consent I have already
obtained: indeed, she is now desirous that I should remain. The services
that I have accidentally rendered her have increased the regard with which
she treats me. I confess too that I am less unwilling to remain than I
was, out of a rooted disapprobation of the violent course of Aurelian. I
cannot, as Calpurnius has done, renounce my country; but I can blame our
emperor. His purposes are without a color of justice: nor are they only
unjust and iniquitous, they are impolitic. I can enter fully into and
defend the feelings and arguments of Palmyra in this direction. Her cause
is in the main a just one. She has done somewhat indeed to provoke a
sensitive and jealous mind; but nothing to warrant the step which Aurelian
is taking. And when I counsel peace, and by concessions too, I do it not
because I hold it right that such concessions should be made, but because
I deem it frantic on the part of Zenobia to encounter the combined power
of Rome, under such a soldier as Aurelian. My sympathies are accordingly
enlisted in behalf of this people as a people; my heart is closely bound
to both the house of Gracchus and Zenobia; and therefore I cannot leave
them. I shall not bear arms against my country; I think I would sooner
die; but in any case of extremity I shall not wear a sword in vain, if by
using it I can save the life or honor of persons dear to me. I am firm in
the belief, that no such extremity will ever present itself; but should it
come, I am ready for it. I cannot but hope that a battle, one or more,
upon the outskirts of the empire, will satisfy the pride of Aurelian, and
convince the Queen, that to contend for empire with him, and Rome at his
back, is vain, and that negotiation will therefore end what passion has
begun. I shall expect no other issue than this. Then, having done all
here, I shall return to Italy, if the Queen relents not, to pass an
unhappy life upon the Tiburtine farm.

Preparations of every kind for the approaching contest are going forward
with activity. The camp of the Queen is forming without the walls upon a
wide and beautiful plain, stretching towards the south. One army will be
formed here chiefly consisting of cavalry, in which lies the strength of
the Queen, and another in the vicinity of Antioch, where a junction will
be effected, and whence the whole will move either toward the Bosphorus or
Egypt, according to the route which, it shall I be learned, Aurelian
intends to pursue.

During these few days that have elapsed since the departure of the
ambassadors, the stir and confusion incident to such a time have
continually increased. In the streets, I meet scarce any who are not
engaged in some service connected with the army. Troops of soldiers are
forming, exercising at their arms, and passing from the city as they are
severally equipped to join the camp. The shops of the armorers resound
with the blows of an innumerable body of artisans manufacturing or
repairing those brilliant suits of steel for which the cavalry of Zenobia
are distinguished. Immense repositories of all the various weapons of our
modern warfare, prepared by the Queen against seasons of emergency,
furnish forth arms of the most perfect workmanship and metal to all who
offer themselves for the expedition. Without the walls in every
direction, the eye beholds clouds of dust raised by different bodies of
the Queen's forces, as they pour in from their various encampments to one
central point. Trains of sumptuary elephants and camels, making a part of
every legion as it comes up, and stretching their long lines from the
verge of the plain to the very walls, contribute a fresh beauty and
interest to the scene.

Within the camp, whatever the tumult and confusion may be without, every
thing is conducted with the most admirable order, and with the observance
of a discipline as exact, if not as severe, as that of Vespasian, or
Aurelian himself. Here are to be seen the commanders of the chief
divisions of the army inspecting the arms and equipments of each
individual soldier, and not with less diligence inquiring into the mettle
and points of the horse he rides. Every horse, pronounced in any way
defective, is rejected from the service and another procured. The Queen's
stable has been exhausted in providing in this manner substitutes for such
as have been set aside as unworthy.

Zenobia herself is the most active and laborious of all. She is in every
place, seeing with her own eyes that every arrangement and provision
ordered to be made is completed, and that in the most perfect manner. All
the duties of a general are performed by her, with a freedom, a power, and
a boldness, that fills one with astonishment who is acquainted with those
opposite qualities which render her, as a woman, the most lovely and
fascinating of her sex. She is seen sometimes driving rapidly through the
streets in an open chariot, of the antique form; but more frequently on
horseback, with a small body of attendants, who have quite enough to do to
keep pace with her, so as to catch from her the orders which she rapidly
issues, and then execute them in every part of the camp and city. She
inspires all who behold her with her own spirit. In every soldier and
leader you behold something of the same alertness and impetuosity of
movement which are so remarkable in her. She is the universal model; and
the confidence in the resources of her genius is universal and boundless.
'Let our courage and conduct,' they say, 'be only in some good proportion
to our Queen's, and we may defy Rome and the world.' As the idea of naught
but conquest ever crosses their minds, the animation--even gayety that
prevails in the camp and throughout the ranks is scarcely to be believed,
as it is, I doubt not, unparalleled in the history of war. Were she a
goddess, and omnipotent, the trust in her could not be more unwavering.

I have just encountered Calpurnius returning from the palace of the
Queen, whither he has been to offer his services during the war, in any
capacity in which it might please her to employ him.

'What was your reception?' said I.

'Such as Fausta had assured me of. She gives me a hearty welcome to her
camp, and assigns me a legion of horse. And, in addition, one more charge
dearer and yet more anxious a thousand-fold.'

'May I know it?' said I, but readily surmising the nature of it.

'It is,' he replied with visible emotion, 'Fausta herself.'

'It is fixed then that she accompanies the Queen?'

'She entreats, and the Queen consents.'

'Would that she could be turned from this purpose, but I suppose the
united power of the East could not do it. To be near Zenobia, and if evil
should befall her to share it, or to throw herself as a shield between the
Queen and death, is what she pants for more than for renown, though it
should be double that of Semiramis.'

'Lucius, have you urged every reason, and used all the power you possess
over her, to dissuade her?'

'I have done all I have dared to do. The decisions of some minds, you
know, with the motives which sway them, we too much revere to oppose to
them our own. Girl though Fausta be, yet when I see by the lofty
expression of her countenance, her firm and steadfast eye, that she has
taken her part, I have no assurance sufficient to question the rectitude
of her determination, or essay to change it. I have more faith in her
in myself.'

'Yet it must never be,' said my brother with earnestness; 'she could never
support the fatigues of such a campaign, and it must not be permitted that
she should encounter the dangers and horrors of actual combat. I have
learned that at the palace which, while it has dismissed the most painful
apprehensions of one sort, has filled me with others more tolerable, but
yet intolerable. How, Lucius? has it happened that your heart, soft in
most of its parts, on one side has been adamant?'

'The way of the heart,' I said, 'like the way of Providence, is
mysterious. I know not. Perhaps it was that I knew her longer in Rome and
more closely than you, and the sentiment always uppermost toward her has
been that of a brother's love. Hers toward me has never been other than
the free, unrestrained affection of a sister. But you have not seen the
Princess?'

'I have not.'

'That will complete the explanation. The Queen rejects me; but I do not
despair. But to return to Fausta. As no force could withhold her from the
army, I thank the gods that in you she will find a companion and defender,
and that to you the Queen has committed her. Fail her not, Calpurnius, in
the hour of need. You do not know, for your eye has but taken in her
outward form, what a jewel, richer than Eastern monarch ever knew, is
entrusted to your care. Keep it as you would your own life, nay, your life
will be well given for its safety. Forgive me, if in this I seem to charge
you as an elder. Remember that you I do not know, Fausta I do. Of you I
scarcely know more than that you are a Piso, and that the very soul of
honor ought to dwell within you. The Queen's ready confidence in you, lays
you under obligations heavy as injunctions from the gods to fidelity. If,
as you journey on toward Antioch, the opportunities of the way throw you
together, and your heart is won by your nearer knowledge of her sweet
qualities as well as great ones, as your eye has already been, ask not,
seek not, for hers, but after a close questioning of yourself whether you
are worthy of her. Of your life and the true lineaments of your soul, you
know every thing, she knows nothing; but she is more free and unsuspicious
than a child, and without looking further than the show and color of
honesty and truth, will surrender up her heart where her fancy leads,
trusting to find according to her faith, and to receive all that she
gives. Brother though you be, I here invoke the curses of the gods upon
your head, if the faintest purpose of dishonest or deceptive dealing have
place within you.'

'Your words,' said Calpurnius in reply--a wholesome and natural expression
of indignation spreading over his countenance, which inspired more
confidence than any thing he could say--'your words, Lucius, are earnest
and something sharp. But I bear them without complaint, for the sake of
the cause in which you have used them. I blame you not. It is true, I am a
stranger both to yourself and Fausta, and it were monstrous to ask
confidence before time has proved me. Leave it all to time. My conduct
under this trust shall be my trial. Not till our return from Antioch will
I aim at more than the happiness to be her companion and guard. The noble
Otho will be near us, to whom you may commit us both.'

'Brother,' I rejoined, 'I doubt you not; but where our treasure is great,
we are tormented by imaginary fears, and we guard it by a thousand
superfluous cares, What I have said has implied the existence of doubts
and apprehensions, but in sober truth they were forced into existence. My
nature from the first has been full of trust in you; but this very
promptness to confide, my anxious fears converted to a fault, and urged
suspicion as a duty. Your countenance and your words have now inspired me
with an assurance, not, I am certain, to be ever shaken, in your virtues.
It shall be my joy to impart the same to Gracchus. Fausta shall be left
free to the workings of her own mind and heart.'

I should not have been justified, it seems to me, in saying less than
this, though I said it with apprehensions, many and grave, of a breach
between us, which perhaps time might never heal. It has ended in a deep
and settled conviction that the character of Calpurnius is what it at
first appears to be. Persian duplicity has made no lodgment within him, of
that I am sure. And where you feel sure of sincerity, almost any other
fault may be borne.

The army has taken up its march, and the city is deprived of its best and
bravest spirits--Zenobia and Fausta, those kindred souls, are gone. How
desolate is this vast palace! The loss of Gracchus and Fausta seems the
loss of all. A hundred attendant slaves leave it still empty.

A period of the most active preparation has been closed to-day, by the
departure of as well appointed an army as ever issued from the Prætorian
camps. It was a spectacle as beautiful as my eyes ever beheld--and as sad.
Let me set before you the events of the day.

As I descended to the apartment where we take together our morning meal,
and which we were now for the last time to partake in each other's
company, I found Fausta already there, and surveying with sparkling eyes
and a flushed cheek a suit of the most brilliant armor, which having been
made by the Queen's workmen, and by her order, had just now been brought
and delivered to her.

'I asked the honor,' said the person with whom she was conversing, 'to
bring it myself, who have made it with the same care as the Queen's, of
the same materials, and after the same fashion. So it was her order to do.
It will set, lady, believe me, as easy as a riding dress, though it be all
of the most impenetrable steel. The polish too is such, that neither arrow
nor javelin need be feared, they can but touch and glance. Hercules could
not indent this surface. Let me reveal to you diverse secret and perfect
springs and clasps, the use of which you should be well acquainted with.
Yet it differs not so much from that in which you have performed your
exercises, but you will readily comprehend the manner of its adjustment.'

He then went through with his demonstrations, and departed.

'This is beautiful indeed!' I said, as I surveyed and handled parts of the
armor; 'the eye can hardly bear it when the rays of the sun fall upon it.
But I wish it was fairly back again in the shop of the armored'

'That would he,' said Fausta, 'only to condemn me to an older and worse
one; and if you should wish that away too, it would be only to send me
into the ranks defenceless. Surely that you would not do?'

'The gods forbid! I only mean that I would rather these walls, Fausta,
should he your defence. You were not made, whatever you may think, to
brave the dangers of the desert and the horrors of a war. Do you remember
at the amphitheatre you hid your eyes from the cruel sights of the arena?
I doubt not your courage; but it is not after your heart.'

'From the useless barbarities of the circus I might indeed turn away my
eyes, and yet I think with perfect consistency strike my lance into the
heart of a man who came against my country or my Queen, nor even blench.
But do not suppose that it is with any light or childish joy that I
resolve to follow in the steps of Zenobia to the field of slaughter. I
would far rather sit here in the midst of security and peace, making mimic
war on my embroidery, or tuning my voice and harp, with Gracchus and you
to listen and applaud. But there is that within me that forbids my stay. I
am urged from within by a voice which seems as the voice of a god, to do
according to my strength, for what may be the last struggle of our country
against the encroachments and ambition of Rome. You may deem it little
that a woman can do?'

'I confess I am of opinion that many a substitute could do Palmyra a
better service than even the arm of Fausta. A woman may do much and
bravely, but a man may do more.'

'Therein, Lucius, am I persuaded you err. If it were only that, in the
language of Zahdas, I added so many pounds weight of bone and flesh, by
adding myself to the Queen's troops, I would stay at home, There are
heavier arms than mine, for mine are slight, and sturdier limbs, for mine
in spite of the sports of the field are still a woman's. But you know
nothing of Palmyra if you know not this, that her victories have been
won, not by the arm, but by the presence of Zenobia; to be led to the
onset by a woman, and that woman Zenobia--it is this that has infused a
spirit and an enthusiasm into our soldiery that has rendered them
irresistible. Were it a thousand against ten thousand, not a native
Palmyrene would shrink from the trial, with Zenobia at their head. I am
not Zenobia, Lucius, but what she can do for an army, I can do for a
legion. Mark the sensation, when this morning Zenobia presents herself to
the army, and even when Fausta wheels into the ranks, and acknowledge
that I have uttered a truth.'

'There must be truth in what you say, for were I in your train I can feel
how far I should follow you, and when forsake you. But what you say only
fills me with new apprehensions, and renders me the more anxious to detain
you. What but certain death awaits you if you are to lead the way?'

'And why should I not die, as well as another? And is it of more
consequence that Fausta, the daughter of Gracchus, should die upon a bed
of down, and beneath silken canopies, than that the common soldier should,
who falls at her side? How could I die hotter than at the head of a
legion, whom, as I fell, I saw sweeping on like a tempest to emulate and
revenge my death?'

'But Gracchus--has he another Fausta, or another child?'

Her eyes were bent to the ground, and for a few moments she was buried in
thought. They were filled with tears as she raised them and said,

'You may well suppose, Lucius, having witnessed, as you have, what the
love is which I bear Gracchus, and how his life is bound up in mine, that
this has been my heaviest thought. But it has not prevailed with me to
change my purpose, and ought not to do so. Could I look into futurity, and
know that while I fell upon the plains of Antioch, or on the sands of the
desert, he returned to these walls to wear out, childless and in solitude,
the remnant of his days, my weakness I believe would yield, and I should
prefer my parent to my country. But the future is all dark. And it may as
well be, that either we shall both fall, or both return; or that he may
fall and I survive. It is unworthy of me, is it not then, to consider too
curiously such chances? The only thing certain and of certain advantage is
this--I can do my country, as I deem it, a signal service by joining her
forces in this hour of peril. To this I cleave, and leave the rest to the
disposal of the gods. But come, urge me no more, Lucius; my mind is
finally resolved, and it but serves to darken the remaining hours. See,
Gracchus and Calpurnius are come--let us to the tables.'

This last meal was eaten in silence, save the few required words of
courtesy.

Soon as it was over, Fausta, springing from her seat, disappeared,
hastening to her apartments. She returned in a few moments, her dress
changed and prepared for her armor.

'Now, Lucius,' she exclaimed, 'your hour of duty has come, which is to fit
upon me this queenly apparel. Show your dexterity, and prove that you too
have seen the wars, by the grace with which you shall do your service.'

'These pieces differ not greatly,' I said, 'from those which I have worn
in Gaul and Germany, and were they to be fastened on my own limbs, or a
comrade's, the task were an easy one. I fear lest I may use too rough a
hand in binding on this heavy iron.'

'O, never fear--there, that is well. The Queen's armorer has said truly;
this is easy as a robe of silk. Now these clasps--are they not well made?
will they not catch?'

'The clasps are perfect, Fausta, but my eye is dim. Here--clasp them
yourself;' and I turned away.

'Lucius, Lucius, are you a Roman, with eyes so melting? Julia were a
better hand-maid. But one thing remains, and that must be done by no other
hand than yours--crown me now with this helmet.'

I took it from her and placed it upon her head, saying, as I did it, 'The
gods shield you from danger, dear Fausta, and when you have either
triumphed or suffered defeat, return you again to this happy roof! Now for
my services allow me this reward'--and for the first time since she was a
girl I kissed her forehead.

She was now a beautiful vision to behold as ever lighted upon the earth.
Her armor revealed with exactness the perfection of her form, and to her
uncommon beauty added its own, being of the most brilliant steel, and
frequently studded with jewels of dazzling lustre. Her sex was revealed
only by her hair, which, parting over her forehead, fell towards either
eye, and then was drawn up and buried in her helmet. The ease with which
she moved showed how well she had accustomed herself, by frequent
exercises, to the cumbrous load she bore. I could hardly believe, as she
paced the apartment, issuing her final orders to her slaves and attendants
who pressed around, that I was looking upon a woman reared in all the
luxury of the East. Much as I had been accustomed to the sight of Zenobia,
performing the part of an emperor, I found it difficult to persuade
myself, that when I looked upon Fausta, changing so completely her sex, it
was any thing more than an illusion.

Gracchus and Calpurnius now joined us, each, like Fausta, arrayed in the
armor of the Queen's cavalry.

'Fausta,' said Gracchus hastily, 'the hour is come that we were at the
camp; our horses wait us in the court-yard--let us mount. Farewell,
Lucius Piso,' continued he, as we moved toward the rear of the palace;
'would you were to make one of our company; but as that cannot be, I
bequeath to you my place, my honors, and my house. Be ready to receive us
with large hospitality and a philosophical composure, when we return
loaded with the laurels of victory and the spoils of your countrymen. It
is fortunate, that as we lose you, we have Calpurnius, who seems of the
true warrior breed. Never, Lucius, has my eye lighted upon a nobler pair
than this. Observe them. The Queen, careful of our Fausta, has given her
in special charge to your brother. I thank her. By his greater activity
and my more prudent counsel, I trust to bring her again to Palmyra with a
fame not less than Zenobia's.

'I can spare the fame,' I replied, 'so I see her once more in Palmyra,
herself unharmed and her country at peace.'

'Palmyra would no longer be itself without her,' rejoined the father.

We were now in the court-yard, where we found the horses fully
caparisoned, awaiting their riders. Fausta's was her favorite Arab, of a
jet black color and of a fierce and fiery temper, hardly to be managed by
the Saracen, whose sole office it was to attend upon him; while in the
hands of Fausta, though still spirited almost to wildness, he was yet
docile and obedient. Soon as she was mounted, although before it had been
difficult to hold him, he became quiet and calm.

'See the power of woman,' said Gracchus; 'were Antiochus here, he would
look upon this as but another proof that the gods are abandoning Palmyra
to the sway of women.'

'It is,' said Fausta, 'simply the power of gentleness. My Saracen operates
through fear, and I through love. My hand laid softly upon his neck gains
more a thousand fold than the lash laid hardly upon his back.'

Mounting my horse, which Milo stood holding for me, we then sallied out of
the court-yard gate toward the camp.

The city itself was all pouring forth upon the plains in its vicinity.
The crowds choked the streets as they passed out, so that our progress
was slow. Arriving at length, we turned toward the pavilion of the Queen,
pitched over against the centre of the army. There we stood, joined by
others, awaiting her arrival; for she had not yet left the palace. We had
not stood long, before the braying of trumpets and other warlike
instruments announced her approach. We turned, and looking toward the
gate of the city, through which we had but now passed, saw Zenobia,
having on either side Longinus and Zabdas, and preceded and followed by a
select troop of horse, advancing at her usual speed toward the pavilion.
She was mounted upon her far-famed white Numidian, for power an elephant,
for endurance a dromedary, for fleetness a very Nicoean, and who had been
her companion in all the battles by which she had gained her renown and
her empire.

Calpurnius was beside himself: he had not before seen her when assuming
all her state. 'Did eye ever look upon aught so like a celestial
apparition? It is a descent from other regions; I can swear 'tis no
mortal--still less a woman. Fausta, this puts to shame your eulogies,
swollen as I termed them.'

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